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Turkey Shoot

This is my first turkey shoot since the turkeys have grown. Their heads have grown. I have spent so much time watching their heads grow I’ve forgot to show you. Are these faces only a mother could love? I have to say I’m fascinated with them. I have a real live flock of turkeys. I can’t settle for a few. I must have a flock. They are such peculiar creatures. Here they are deciding it they want to go indoors. The necks are going crazy. A lot of discussion went on outside the door. They decided NOT. Here are my two Spanish Blacks or Nigerian Blacks or what ever you want to call them. Poor guys, they are a little homely now but you wait and see. We have four wild “Rio Grand” males towering above the little guys. I sit in the coop and try to catch them strutting and looking like a turkey….you know with their feathers all splayed out. But they won’t do it when I have the camera in hand. This is my little Royal Palm dude or gal. They say Heritage turkeys grow slower and now I see they are right. Who ever they is. Taking photo’s of turkeys from the side is easy for some reason. When they start to do that funny turkey thing with their heads, like the one in the background here, focusing gets trickier. Here is the focus challenge. Focus on the face is almost impossible. But you can see this guys special head-dress. No it is not a bloated tick hanging there. The more the head turns the harder it is to focus on the turning head. Ahhhhh I got focus. There he is in plain sight. Hello!Arrrrgh I don’t got focus. Head too thin. There he is. Look at this little guy. A face only Mama Jo could love?

A developing turkey head. There he is again. Looking at me.I’m falling in love.He is thinking about humans and where to go next Here are the big guys. All dressed in red. The same color as my plastic chairs in front of their coop. I did not plan this. This is what you call a beard. This is a developing turkey face. Pecking for things. These are developing turkey feet. This turkey is learning to use his feet to perch on a cement block. Birds LOVE to perch upon things. Turkeys drink A LOT of water I have found out. Here is the tail that won’t fan out for you. Like a TOM turkey is suppose to do. The only time I can catch this turkey fanning his feathers is when he is grooming. Peek A Boo….grooming is hard to do. While turkeys are grooming, Girls and Golden’s are gawking at how to get in.

Their feathers are amazing with all the color patterns. The beautiful reds in their coloring too. I wonder if that is because of what you feed them. We have tons of wild turkeys around here and they aren’t near as pretty as yours.